Gamut Academie Copper Gimped Diapason Gut is an extra long (96", 240cm) copper Gimped gut string made of beef gut (bovine serosa) with the Pistoy twist for extra flexibility, and is intended for special use on instruments like archultes, theorbos, lautenwercks, and harpsichords. It is made with a copper wire twisted into the gut, polished smooth.
The string comes with plain, unknotted ends. Instructions on how to tie a string knot are on the back of each package.
Plain gut strings are available with a natural or varnish finish. Natural strings are hand-rubbed with a light oil. Varnished strings have three coats of finish before being hand polished with the oil. There is an additional charge for varnished strings.
Diapason Copper Gimped strings are best used for:
- Archlute: extended bass strings
- Theorbo: extended bass strings
- Lautenwercks: bass strings
We use copper wire for Custom Gauged Gimped gut strings. The copper wire is a little lighter than silver, so the resulting strings are slightly larger in diameter than the equivalent silver gimped string; and the copper makes the string slightly brighter in tone.
Gimped strings were first mentioned in an advertisement in the 1664 edition of John Playford’s “Introduction to the Skill of Music.” The exact historical nature of these strings is not known; and the strings we produce are based on the descriptions of gimped lace of the period.
The Gimped string is characterized by the barber-pole or candy stripe appearance of the wire in the twist of the gut. The addition of wire into the gut gives extra density to the string so it can be thinner than a plain gut string of the same weight. The Gimped string, being thinner and having some metal content, offers a brighter tone and quicker response than a plain gut string of the same gauge density.
Gimped strings are gauged by the Equivalent Diameter system. This means that a given Gimped string is equal in weight to a certain gut diameter, but the actual diameter of the Gimped string is smaller due to the added weight of the wire. A Gimped string may be gauged at =1.50mm, but the actual diameter of the string is 1.10mm. The thinness and the addition of the wire gives a bright tone.
Use our String Calculators to find the correct strings for your instrument. You can find Specific String Tensions here.
